Avatar Ria's Zombie Diaries
by ssj5goku5
Summary: The world lies in a state of disrepair, taken over by zombies and it is the sole duty of the new avatar to help fix this broken land. Follow Ria and old friends as they travel the world, in search of answers to how to cure the people of the once great bending nations
1. In the Beginning

** Chapter One: In the Beginning**

The world lies in disrepair. Chaos reigns supreme and death runs amuck around every corner of this hollowed world. Creatures unlike anyone has ever seen own this land now. My name is Ria, a Waterbender from the once great Northern Water Tribe. Now it lies in ruins like the rest of the world, a shadow of its former self.

My story began on a sunny day just east of the ruins of the old Northern Water Tribe. There was a group of survivors who had set up camp away from those things so that life could still move on like normal. I was a part of a fishing group that morning so I was out on the lake with Tora and Yuki. Tora was a master Waterbender, she was in her mid-thirties and looked beautiful with her flowing blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Yuki was her husband, a graceful yet powerful man. He taught Waterbending to the kids like me. I had been his student for six years so that's what brought me to the boat with them.

"Ria look sharp, you don't want any of those waves over taking our boat." Yuki said.

"I know Sensei." I droned, I was bending the water around the boat to catch the fish that swam by. The waves were rocking us slightly as I pushed the water around.

"You have to be careful Ria. There is a slight chance you could dig up more than just fish." Tora advised.

I had heard stories of those creatures attacking from the depths of the water but I haven't even seen one on land in my lifetime. I was born a year after the first outbreak and my mother always kept me away from the ruins of the old city.

"It's dangerous and you could die if you go in there!" she would always tell me. Of course I believed her so I stayed as far away from ruins as possible so as not to get in harm's way. Things were changing now because my thirteenth birthday finally passed and that meant I was a full-fledged member of the tribe. I could go out on fishing trips and scouting missions now and I was determined to do so.

I was minding my own, not really paying attention to my bending when I pulled on something heavy. I gave the water a weird look and yanked upwards with my bending. It was possibly the worst idea of my life. A human body came soaring upwards with a loud screech. It was decaying badly, parts of its head was gone and you could see the brain, an arm was missing along with bits and pieces of the chest, showing off its ribcage.

I screamed in terror, it was more horrible than I could ever imagine. Tora flipped around and yelled as the thing landed on the deck of the boat. I thought it was dead until it stood up, screeching and ran at us.

"Get down Ria!" Yuki yelled. I ducked as a rush of water flew past me and loped off the things head. I was breathing heavily as it fell to the floor.

"Is it dead? What is that thing?" I asked. I couldn't control my breathing any longer.

Tora walked over and hugged me. "It's okay, we just have to get back to the camp site." She wouldn't let go of me and I felt the boat start to move.

It wasn't long before there was pounding on the bottom of the boat. Yuki and Tora exchanged glances as the boat began to go faster. Then all of the sudden we were yanked to a stop. "What's going on? Why did we stop Master Yuki?"

"I can't get it to move anymore. Tora help me." He was pushing with all his might. Tora started to bend the water trying to get the boat to move as well but it wasn't working, the boat just wouldn't start moving.

"I'm scared, please get me home!" I said, covering my eyes.

"Ria you just have to calm down okay, everything will be alright, I promise."

I never liked promises a person couldn't keep. I just sat there, waiting for the boat to move but it never did. Just as Tora and Yuki gave the boat a combined push more of those things climbed aboard. There had to be fifty on the boat with us and more in the water.

Tora yelled out a prayer to the Moon Spirit and started to wash some of them back into the water. They weren't going for kills, they simply wanted these things off the boat. Tora backed up to me and Yuki took the other side. "Keep Ria safe!" he yelled to his wife as they fought these monsters.

It was hopeless, more and more of them just came on board and I could see them getting tired as the fight drug on. Soon it came to where more of those things were coming on board than they were washing them off. I started to cry, I knew I was going to die on board this ship.

Tora however grabbed my arm and pulled me up. She quickly whispered instructions to me, "When I give the word you jump off this boat and bend yourself as far away from here as possible, do you understand me?"

I nodded my head and looked in her beautiful blue eyes, I knew it would be the last I saw of Tora so I hugged her tightly. She pushed me away and I cried more, I couldn't lose my teachers, I just couldn't.

Tora turned and yelled, "Now Ria, escape from here!"

I disregarded her and tried to help. I shot water at those things but it didn't do anything but push them away from me. They started running at us again and I knew I should have jumped when I was told too. One of those monsters grabbed a hold of Tora and bit her neck. Tora screamed and Yuki threw as much water as he could at her attacker but it did no good. It pulled off a huge chunk of her neck and blood went everywhere. I screamed again, completely afraid of what was going to happen to me. I felt my pants get warm as I peed myself and looked around to try to find some way out.

More of those thing converged on Tora as Yuki tried to fight his way to his wife. "Ria you have to go, get off this boat and live, you are the only hope for this forsaken world!" Yuki yelled.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. My words were slurred because of how much I was crying.

"Talk with your mother, she will tell you everything." And he started to hit and kick at the monsters trying to get a hold of Tora. The things converged on him and blocked him from my view. Then I heard his yelling and I knew they were eating him too.

I sat down, crying too hard to move. I could barely breathe, my chest kept going up and down but it was mostly hollowed breathes. The things turned to me and started to converge around me. I prayed to the Moon Spirit to guide me and I felt a warm breeze. It seemed odd that the air was warm seeming how we were so far north.

I closed my eyes for what I thought would be the last time. A light began to glow in my vision, I was confused by what it was so I opened my eyes. Everything was glowing around me, the creatures outlines were a bright blue as they ran towards me. I cupped my hands near my chest and fire began to erupt from my palms. I didn't know what was going on, I barely had control of my body, I was simply conscious enough to be aware that I was moving.

The fire got bigger, the creatures didn't seem afraid of it, they just came at me quicker. It got too big to hold so I thrust it downwards at the deck. It exploded into a huge fireball and launched me from the boat. Everything was still glowing as I soared through the air. I pushed outwards and felt a gust of wind carry me further. I didn't know what was happening but I was getting closer and closer to the surf. Land was coming quickly and I knew if I smashed into it I would die on impact but I seemed to know how to stop it. I turned and cupped my hands again, this time a ball of air seemed to be forming in them. I tossed it down and landed softly on it, falling to the ground as I closed my eyes and the glowing faded away.

I groaned because my body felt sore. I tried to stand up and was a bit wobbly getting to my feet. I had so many questions running through my head right now that I was getting a headache just from thinking. What were those things? Why were they attacking us and eating us? Most of all what was that ominous warning about and why would my mother be able to explain it all to me?

I decided it best to make my way back to camp, I was only a mile away now. It wouldn't take long to hike back up so I started up the path cut into the snow. It wasn't long before I noticed shadows of creatures all around me. I proceeded with caution, having taken a few classes on scouting so I knew what to do when confronted by the enemy.

I crouched and made my way the last few steps up the hill. After that I had a good view of the campsite and it would only be a couple more minutes until I reached it. I looked out over it and gasped. Smoke was billowing from each tent and fires raged along the outer tents.

I ran down the hill and didn't stop running until I made it to the edge of camp. There were bodies littered everywhere, people I knew lay dead on the snow. The camp elder was lying in the middle with a gash in her neck and blood flowed free into a pool beside her.

I gagged and kept moving, the stench in the air making me sick, death did not smell good. There were bodies of those creatures littered around as well. They were decayed, some to the point that you would think they couldn't move anymore but they did. Heads were cut off or exploded and other assorted body parts lined the campsite. It was enough to make anyone sick but I had my eyes set on the far back tent, my home.

The flap on the tent was blown open in the breeze but otherwise it was quiet, too quiet in my opinion. I walked quicker, afraid of what I would find when I got there but still in a rush to see my mother. The path to my home was littered with the bodies of school students, my best friend Myrtle lay dead outside my tent. I broke down and fell to the ground next to her body. Her eyes were glazed and pieces of her arms were missing.

I started to cry and went to give her one last hug, knowing I would never get to see her again but when I reached down her arm reached out and grabbed me. I jerked up and with my free hand made some snow into water and slashed off her head before she could move. I fell backwards and kicked away from the body. I began to cry harder as I looked upon what had become of my best friend. It raised even more questions that I had no way of getting answers too, no way accept the possible doom that lied through that gap in my tent.

I stood up slowly and looked at the flap softly blowing in the cold breeze. I wiped my eyes and walked in. The scene I saw was just as bad as the outside, blood was everywhere. I didn't see any bodies but I had one more room to check. I walked around the chairs and pulled open the flap to my parent's room. I gasped, my mother was sat on her mat with blood leaking from her neck. She had her hand over the wound and was barely breathing but still alive.

I rushed to her side. "Mother, oh mother! Let me help!" and I pulled out some water ready to heal her wound but she looked at me and waved it away.

"It won't help." She said. Her voice was raspy and rough because of her injury. "The infection has already spread, I am going to die Ria."

"No mother, no you can't die! Tora and Yuki are dead and Myrtle is dead. I just can't lose anyone else!" I cried. Fresh tears were flowing down my cheeks.

"You must persevere Ria. I knew from the moment you were born that you were special, that is why I kept you safe from harm all these years, you of all people need to live." Her breathing was becoming deeper and slower. "Your father took a small group of survivors south. He plans to head into the Earth Kingdom, you must catch up with him. He will explain everything Ria." She looked in my eyes as she began to lose consciousness. She had just enough breathe for a few more words though, "You are the….." and then she closed her eyes, never to open them again.

I stood up, holding in my tears. If she became like Myrtle, I didn't know if I wanted to stick around for that. I went to the front room where I kept my things in a small knapsack. I opened it up and took out the necklace my mother had made me when I was six. I kept it in there because it no longer fit around my neck but I enjoyed looking at it. I cried for a tiny before placing it back in and taking the whole knapsack and swinging it around my shoulder.

"Goodbye mother, I will always love you." I cried as I walked out the door. I knew where my father would have went, south meant the old docks. They were only a couple miles south but the issue would be if they already left.

I started to jog in the direction of the old docks, I knew there would be those creatures all around but I now knew how to fight them so if confronted by them I could make it out alive. The cold air was crisp against my exposed skin, I was wearing a tank top and didn't really notice the cold until now. My pants were also freezing because of the pee.

I didn't have time to stop to change so I just lived with the wetness. I ran along the road and saw a few dismembered bodies here and there but otherwise it was quiet. I wondered what I would find when I got to the old docks but didn't pay much attention to the thoughts because I was just trying to make my way there safely.

I rounded the bend and got to the water's edge without any issue. The issue came when the docks came into view. A small group of water benders were fighting a small horde of those monsters. I ran to help. There were around ten of them and I had the advantage of sneaking up on them. I dropped my knapsack and pulled up a few ice shards and shot them at a couple of them. They sliced open the things heads and the others didn't seem to notice. I shot a few more and in no time we had them killed.

I walked up to them and noticed my dad wasn't with them. "Was Ike with you? My father?"

They looked at me. One of them gasped, "You're Ria, the daughter of Ike and Mia. Yes he was with us, he went off into the blizzard looking for you. He told us to leave him behind but those things attacked us as we were getting the boats ready."

"Can someone explain what's going on here? Tora and Yuki were killed out on the fishing boat and my mother is dead. I want some answers!" I was mad now.

"Come, let's get on a boat and we'll tell you everything you want to know, but you must know some of it will be your fathers to tell you." One of them said, I didn't know any of these men or women but that's because I wasn't open with most of the villagers.

I wanted to go find my father but I knew it was smarter to leave as soon as we could and also I knew my dad was strong enough to make it to the rally point alive. "Dad is going to make it to the rally point right?"

"He said to give him three days of looking time and then he'd make it to our rally point just inside Earth Kingdom territory. Now come on, there is someone at that safe zone that wants to meet you." The oldest looking man said.

I got on the boat with them and they started to sail away. The eldest guy looked at me, "I'm Kabo. The others are Suki, Spot, and Nanico." He said pointing to each in turn.

Suki was the beautiful looking girl wearing Earth Kingdom garb. She waved and said, "I'm a Kyoshi Warrior in case you were wondering, I came up north on a mission and I think I completed it." She smiled and laughed.

Spot was a young man, couldn't have been more than eighteen. He had a few scars on his face but a kind smile. "I got the scars hunting some wild animals when I was about your age. Not much of a bender, I like to swing a sword though."

Nanico was a woman about my mother's age. She looked fondly at me and smiled sweetly. "I was in school with your mother, she was a kind person and will be missed dearly. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask. I am the village's best healer, I can heal almost any wound, physical or emotional."

"So what can I answer for you?" Kabo asked.

I looked at him. "What were those things and why were they eating people?"

"That's right, your mother did well to keep you in the dark. Well now's a good a time as any to tell you. Those things are what we call zombies. They are reanimated dead bodies. I presume you caught that part already?"

I nodded my head. "When I was going through the campsite I found my best friends body and it reanimated on me. I had to…" I broke down crying and Nanico came over and put her arm around me.

Kabo pressed on. "The first outbreak was thirteen years ago. Avatar Aang was getting ready to settle down in the village that he had started to make, he called it Republic City. His dreams of a town there never came into light because a nasty virus started to spread. After a couple months of infection the populace of this area started to die, but they didn't stay dead for very long. Avatar Aang never saw it coming. He was doing his rounds, looking after the ill when a zombie blindsided him. He was killed before anyone could stop it. Katara was the first to kill a zombie. Then the plague spread to the greater populace and in three years the world was in ruins. Even know, with all we know about them it's hard to combat the zombie threat. I've lost more than I can count to those bastards and we will continue to lose to them until the next Avatar gets trained. Aang's issue was he didn't even know what was going on until it was too late. This Avatar will have the knowledge they need to beat the damn things into the ground." He finished. He looked to me as if I was the one that was going to rise up against them.

I looked away. "You don't mean me do you?"

Kabo laughed. "It's possible, you are now the last remaining thirteen year old in the Northern Water Tribe, I have no clue what it's like down south in the Southern Water Tribe. Ever since the start of the infection we lost all connections with our sister tribe. Look kid, I don't know anything for certain but if you are the Avatar, we need you just as much, if not more than you need us. So keep a sane head won't you?"

I looked away, I couldn't bare the stares of those four. Now I knew the last word of what my mother was saying before she died. I am the Avatar, the last hope for this dying world. I sat there staring blankly into space as the boat moved slowly onward towards Earth Kingdom territory.


	2. The Past and the Present

** Chapter Two: The Past and the Present**

The boat was finally coming to a stop. I looked out over the northern waters, thinking it would be the last time I saw it. If I was the Avatar I'd have to go through training to learn the other elements as soon as possible and I didn't know if I was ready to leave my comfort behind yet.

Nanico took my hand and held it for a moment. I looked at her, tears falling down again. "Hey Ria, don't worry. We will get through this, I know you lost a lot already but things will begin to look up." And she hugged me.

I hugged her back but I felt alone and scared. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was taken by these things, zombies as Kabo called them. I still didn't fully understand it all but I knew I couldn't sit and wait to die. I got off the boat and looked around.

We had docked near a giant wall. Two men were outside it guarding the slit in the wall that I could only guess was the only entrance into whatever lay beyond. Kabo packed some things up and then started to walk towards them. Nanico motioned me to follow so I did, keeping just behind him.

There wasn't much snow on the ground and I could see the grass poking up through the snow. Suki and Spot were right behind me and Nanico took up the rear. We got to the entrance quickly and the men stopped us.

"State your business." The one on the left said. They were wearing Earth Kingdom armor, probably bite resistant to protect against the zombies.

Suki stepped forward and flashed a badge. The men gasped and bowed. "Lady Suki, I must apologize. So long as no one is infected you may proceed immediately."

She smirked and looked around. "Anyone got any bites they wish to tell us about? The flame machines will find out if you don't pipe up now."

I looked confused. "Flame machines? What do you mean Suki?"

"Right, this is your first time away from the Northern Water Tribe. They never used anything to spot the infection. Well over here we have machines that can detect the infection, sort of seeing if your chakra is normal I guess. If it's even slightly messed up the machines will open up and Firebenders will take care of the threat. So did you get bit Ria?"

I felt around my body. There was nothing except stale pee. "No I didn't. Could we possibly hurry this up? I need to change out of these clothes."

Everyone nodded in agreement to the hurrying up so Suki turned to the men. They pushed against the wall and it opened right up. I gasped when the rock finally stopped. The view was amazing. The area dipped into a valley that was made into a rather large city. People were running around the edge of the valley, just living life like nothing had happened, like there wasn't anything to be afraid of outside these walls. The plague was a thing of the past once you got past these walls and I liked it.

I started to walk down towards the city and stopped at the start of the decent. "Oh wow, what a beautiful city!"

Suki came up behind me smiling. "Yep, the safest place on the planet right now. New Ba Sing Se. After the initial infection the city of Ba Sing Se was hit pretty badly. There was nothing left to even scavenge. The survivors of the attack made their way to this valley and set up walls to protect them from the zombies. At that time nothing was known about zombies or the virus. Despite the lack of knowledge New Ba Sing Se started to grow, both in population and in size. It was becoming a well-known safe haven for refugees. That's about when those were created." She pointed down the street to a large machine. "They house a few Firebenders a piece and the general idea is to see any change in a person's chakra levels. See when a bender is infected with the virus they loss all ability to bend because the virus attacks the chakra veins running throughout your body. Then it poisons you and kills you, that poison being what causes the body to reanimate. So after those were invented this city became a soft of Heaven. No zombies getting in, only non-infected humans, benders and non-benders alike, it doesn't matter. A human is a human these days. It didn't used to be like that." She finished her story and started to walk down the road.

I followed her at a steady pace, looking around. The inner walls were guarded by lots of men in armor. These ones weren't just Earth Kingdom armor, there was Fire Nation and Water Tribe members guarding the place. I guess if you wanted a home here you would protect it.

"So am I the only thirteen year old left?"

Suki laughed. "I wouldn't say that, but I'll bet you're the only thirteen year old Waterbender left. The tribes were hit hard in the first few years. Come, I'll take you to someone who can explain these things to you."

She started to run and slowed down to go through the machine. She made it past and I followed. There was no issue so I kept going. "Okay Ria, there will be one more stop before we get into town. Sometimes the initial scan doesn't find the virus so they do a double check."

We came up to one last machine and this time there was a small line. A man, a woman and two children stood in front of us. They were arguing with a man in Fire Nation armor.

"She isn't infected." The man was saying.

"Then have her walk through the machine and we will test that. I cannot let you in the city without going through the machine." The soldier was saying.

"But those things make us sick, it doesn't react well with our bodies!" he kept arguing.

Suki and I stopped just short of the children, two little boys who looked maybe six years old. Twins from the looks of it. The mother seemed to be nursing her right arm while watching her husband argue with the soldier.

"If you won't go through the machine you can just turn around and leave the city. The rules are in place for the safety of every individual inside the city limits.

The woman reached out. "I'll do it, I'll go through the machine. I'm confident that I'm not infected." She stepped forward. The man had the boys look away just in case something went wrong and he watched his wife start to walk through. Lights came on when she got into the machine and a gate swung closed on either side of her. The man yelled but before he could do anything a powerful bust of fire engulfed the woman.

I gasped and turned away, shutting my eyes tight as her screams filled the air. I heard the sobs of her family as they were unable to help the woman. I began to cry to and Suki took me in her arms and hugged me. I grabbed on tight to her and cried some more.

It wasn't long before I heard the soldier say, "I'm sorry for your loss, I didn't mean for it to happen but we can't let infected people into the city. You can attempt to pass through or you can turn around, that's all I can offer you."

That didn't help the families crying. I didn't blame them, the lack of support angered me. I just stood there unable to do anything about it and Suki took my hand, leading me onward through the machine. We passed by just fine, going through a new ash pile that used to be a woman.

"That's the harder side of the machines, when someone does walk through infected." Suki said. She had a hardened look on her face.

"It angers me that we can't do anything about it."

"Yeah but what is there to do except contain the threat? It's not like we can just cure the infected people by blinking our eyes. All we can do is keep moving and stop the threat before it worsens."

I knew she was right but I couldn't help looking back. They hadn't moved from where they were and from what I could see they were still crying their eyes out. I wanted to help but I just couldn't and that made me feel even worse, the feeling of being useless, just like back in the tent with my mother.

I pushed my emotions to the side and kept moving forward with Suki. We passed some pretty neat looking buildings, all with smiling and carefree people working inside. None of them had to deal with the plague while on the inside but I stopped myself from being resentful because most of the people in here were refugees. They had lost everything too, just like me.

Faces blurred by as we walked, many people I didn't know nor cared to know. I just wanted to be home, safe and sound in my sleeping bag. Suki stopped short and I walked into her, taking me out of my depressive stupor and back into reality.

"Here we are, this is her getaway home anyways." And Suki pushed open the door into a small room with a kitchen and a couple doors leading off into other rooms. The place was nice for a refugee house which is to say I thought it belonged to a refugee until I met the owner of the place.

A beautiful girl, a Water Tribe member from the looks of her, stepped forward. She wore a kind smile, long dark hair with two braids down the front and bright blue eyes. Her clothes consisted of long dark blue robes over a shirt and pants that looked a lot like mine.

She smiled, "Suki, long time no see. I suppose the Northern Water Tribe was wiped out?"

"Mostly, there were only a few survivors. They are in town, all except one. He went off searching for this girl here," she pointed to me, "and should be in town in the next few days. Otherwise yes, the Northern Water Tribe is no more. I did all I could to help but there were too many zombies."

"I understand Suki, thank you. And I presume you brought this one for a specific reason?" the woman looked to me. I backed away shyly.

"Ria don't be shy, no harm is going to come to you. Yes I brought her because her thirteenth birthday was last week, on the day of the memorial."

The woman gasped. Obviously she knew what Suki was talking about because I had no clue. I was lost in all of this, just standing here waiting for them to tell me I could change my clothes.

"Thirteen, and on the exact day of the memorial. Are you sure Suki?"

"Yes, have a word with her, get to know her. I'm sure we all will be doing that in the near future. I must go meet Sokka now, we are to have dinner tonight." And Suki turned away and left.

I looked at the woman, she really was beautiful but her eyes showed a deep pain, the kind of pain I was feeling. She smiled at me, "Did Suki tell you who I am?"

"No ma'am." I said shyly.

She reached out her hand but I was reluctant to take it. "Don't be shy, my name is Katara. I'm a Waterbender just like you."

I gasped, a sudden realization forming in my head. "You're Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe. You were going to wed Avatar Aang before everything happened. I'm so sorry." I bowed to her.

She blushed and smiled. "No need to bow to me, the past is the past. It's not something I can change." Her smile faded quickly and she began to stare out the window.

I knew I had to cheer her up because I had been the one to remind her of Aang so I decided to tell her everything. "I had to kill my best friend when the camp was attacked. Also I had to watch my mother die while I sat uselessly waiting for the end."

Katara looked at me. She smiled again, "You remind me a lot of myself, Ria was your name?" I nodded my head. "When I was your age I had to escort Aang around the world so he could master the elements and stop the Fire Nation. Now it's worse, I lost so much back then and now it seems I keep losing more and more. I don't know what I will do if I lose my family. I worry about them every day, after me and Sokka lost contact with our dad I was devastated."

"How long has it been?"

"Two years. We fear the worst but hope for the best. It doesn't look like he'll ever make it home." Tears were rolling down her cheeks. I felt the same, I didn't know what had become of my dad after he went looking for me.

"Tell me more about the beginning of the infection. What happened to you in the first few years?" I was eager to hear all I could about it.

"Why don't you have a seat then? It's a long story." She went and grabbed some tea and poured us a cup as we sat down at the table. "After Ozai was defeated and things calmed down in the world me and Aang decided to go set up a village where anyone could live in harmony. Aang called it Republic City. It was beautiful at first, we have a nice little temple in the middle of a small island overlooking the small village. Many people were starting to come to us to live under our laws because of the benefit of having a peaceful nation to coincide with anyone. Well as the population grew so did the diseases. I think this all really started by mixing wrong medicines together in my opinion. One day it was fine, the hospital was full of sick people, all with various diseases ranging from a simple cold to a nasty heart infection that killed anyone it got in. So the healers were doing all they could, giving out medicine and healing with bending to the best of their abilities. Then one night we lost a patient, it was sad. He had just had his first kid and his wife was so happy until he fell ill. After his death they moved away, to get away from the disease. I think she was infected with the zombie virus when she left, I think her leaving was a small cause of worldwide infection. Soon after his death Aang was in the hospital keeping the healers calm. Little did we know that the guy had reanimated, bit a few patients as well and had them reanimate. I was there that night. I was tending to a couple patients with minor bruising around their wrists, a small fight had broken out. Well there was a loud bang and when I turned around to investigate the zombie was on top of Aang. I instantly lunged at them and destroyed them but they had already bitten him pretty good, the disease working quickly into his blood stream. The healers got him patched up and sent him home with me but he wasn't the same after that. He grew very ill, lost his bending and started to throw up constantly. It was maybe a week after that he died. It tore me apart to see him lying in bed, in so much pain. After he passed we buried him, under the site we had marked for his memorial statue. We never thought the construction would have to be started so soon." She stopped. Tears were quickly flowing down her cheeks.

I took her hand and patted it. "You don't have to keep going if you don't want to Katara."

"No no, I'm fine Ria, thanks. After that, many patients started to grow ill, showing those same symptoms. It wasn't long before we had more zombies on our hands, and back then we had no clue what to make of it. The dead were coming back to life and I learned that the workers had gotten attacked by Aang while working on the memorial. They said he came out of the ground and bit them. I didn't believe it until we looked into the grave and it was empty. That's when reality hit me. I got the gang together, me, my brother, Suki, and Toph. We headed out, afraid of what was becoming of Republic City and wanting answers so we traveled back to the library. You know, Wan Shi Tong's Library. It had been dug up and was open to us again, after our first visit though we were reluctant to go inside until Sokka made us go in. We found nothing, nothing at all on the virus, we didn't know what to call it and all we knew was that it reanimated the dead. After that we made a pact, a pact to be the ones to find the new Avatar, train them and then stop this new threat. So we spent the next thirteen years doing just that, wanting some sort of closure. I doubt I'll ever get that closure but I know that helping the new Avatar to fix this world is the right thing to do. And that Ria is where you come in. Suki brought you here for a reason, and I'm guessing you know what that reason is." She finished her tea and looked straight at me.

I looked at the ground for a while as we sat in silence. I finally looked up, "My mother's dying words were 'you are the…..' and she never got to finish that sentence. It was only on the boat ride over here that I realized what the last word was. Katara, I am the new Avatar." And I went on to explain the weird feeling and happenings on the boat that morning.

"Then that settles it. You undoubtedly went into the Avatar state when you felt scared for your life. I'm sorry this is how you had to be introduced into it. It sucks losing those you love, and to a plague that makes them there, but not really there. Maybe your mother is still out there, no one will go up there knowing that zombies are running amuck around it. But the real question is how long will she be reanimated?"

I stared at Katara. "Are you suggesting some sort of cure?"

"We didn't learn much in the library, but what we did find was useful in the long run, we just needed the new Avatar. That's why we vowed to be the ones to find you and train you. We need you Ria, can you be there for us?" Katara looked deeply into my eyes. I realized me and Katara looked pretty much the same, except I was younger and had hazel eyes instead of the blue.

"I will help you Katara, only because I need you there. This is going to be hard on all of us, are the rest of you in town?"

"Only Suki and Sokka, the others are out scouting for you. We will have to go find them if you are to be trained, and that means finding Toph first. I presume you have adequate training in Waterbending?"

"Of course, the two best teachers the Northern Water Tribe had to offer trained me!"

"Oh right, how are Yuki and Tora? Alive I hope?"

I looked away. I didn't even need to say it for her to know. "They were good people, their memory will live on, believe me." And she stood up. "Right, let's get you in some fresh clothes and be on our way shall we?"

I smiled, the thought of traveling with Katara, especially in some clean clothes, was a thought I liked. I got up and went to change, waiting for the bad days to end and the good ones to begin. Of course it would be a while before those good days came.


End file.
